Warren County Man to Serve 35 Years in Federal Prison for Child Exploitation and Possession of Child Pornography

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 1, 2011

Rock Island, Ill. – A Warren County, Ill., man, Ronald Alan Seiver, 31, of Roseville, has been ordered to serve 35 years in federal prison for child sexual exploitation and possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid issued the sentence late yesterday, Nov. 30, following a six-hour hearing. Judge Shadid ordered that Seiver serve consecutive sentences of 120 months (10 years) for possession of child pornography and 300 months (25 years) for child sexual exploitation. Seiver was also ordered to remain on supervised release for the remainder of his life following completion of his prison sentence.

According to court documents and information presented in court, Seiver came to the attention of law enforcement in January 2010, after Canadian law enforcement agents received a report that images of child pornography had been uploaded to an Internet site. The matter was referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI.) Investigators identified Seiver as the Internet subscriber, and on Aug. 24, 2010, executed a search warrant at Seiver’s residence where agents recovered 119 images and 34 video files of child pornography, including images of children in bondage and children under the age of 12.

During yesterday’s sentencing hearing, Judge Shadid found that Seiver qualified for sentencing enhancements for engaging in patterns of activity involving prohibited sexual conduct. The government presented evidence that Seiver engaged in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl whom he photographed and/or videotaped, and on at least three other occasions with three different minor females that involved the production of child pornography by coaxing the girls to take and send nude images and videos of themselves to him. The court also found that further enhancements applied for possession of materials involving prepubescent minors, possession of materials portraying sadistic or masochistic conduct, and the use of a computer in the commission of the offense.

“The defendant caused real harm to young people. Law enforcement made sure that this stopped, and the court’s 35-year sentence makes sure that the defendant is held fully accountable and that he cannot do this again for a long, long time,” said U.S. Attorney Jim Lewis, Central District of Illinois.

“This sentence clearly demonstrates the consequences that await predators who engage in the depraved sexual exploitation of innocent children,” said Gary Hartwig, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Chicago. “In collaboration with our law enforcement partners in the U.S. and abroad, we will use every available resource to pursue individuals like Mr. Seiver who prey upon the most vulnerable segment of our society – our children.”

Seiver has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest on Aug. 24, 2010. On May 13, 2011, Seiver entered guilty pleas to the charges.

The case was investigated by ICE HSI ; the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office; the Department of Justice for the State of Oregon; London, Ontario, Canada Police Services; and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. McCoy prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.